DA to submit Youth Employment Plan to the Presidency
16 September 2014
The Democratic Alliance will submit a Youth Employment Plan to the Deputy Minister in the Presidency, Buti Manamela, who is in charge of finalising the National Youth Policy 2015-2019 before March 2015.
Yesterday, Statistics South Africa (StatsSA) released a report entitled ‘Youth employment, unemployment, skills and economic growth 1994-2014'.
The report indicates that, over the past 20 years, the skills level of black youth aged between the ages of 20 and 34 has regressed.
This proves that, two decades after the advent of democracy, black children are bearing the brunt of poor outcomes in our educational system.
The report also reinforces the magnitude of our youth unemployment crisis, with youth accounting for 75% of unemployed South Africans.
In his portfolio, Deputy Minister Manamela must now urgently prioritise efforts to tackle youth unemployment and create opportunities for young people through skills development.
The DA's Youth Employment Plan, which we will submit to the Deputy Minister, proposes:
Ramping up the implementation of the Youth Wage Subsidy;
Introducing an opportunity voucher scheme for eligible young South Africans. The voucher will provide funding to young adults who would like to start their own businesses or further their education and skills development;
Establishing a comprehensive government internship programme across all departments, based on the highly successful Western Cape model;
Instituting a nation-wide bursary scheme to assist 50 000 academically talented learners from low-income families access high quality primary and secondary school education;
Reimbursing employers to the value of the full amount spent on approved training, including schemes administered by employers' associations. This will ensure that employees' skills are better matched with market demand. This policy would replace the bureaucratic and ineffective SETA system;
Expanding the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) to provide full funding assistance to cover tuition, books, accommodation and maintenance stipend (which may include additional loans and bursaries) to all qualifying students; and
Opening specialised secondary schools that focus on science, technology, engineering and mathematics education.
Above all, we need to fix our failing basic education system by focusing on the "five T's" - Teachers, Textbooks, Time Management, Technology and Testing.
If we don't, we can expect further disappointment when Stats SA releases its next youth employment and skills report.
Statement issued by Dr Michael Cardo MP, DA Shadow Deputy Minister in the Presidency, September 16 2014
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